Envelope feed and delivery attachment for typewriters



"1,564,937 L. M. CAMPBELL Filed Jan. 2e. 1925 s Smets-sheet 1 Dec. 8,1925.

ENVELOPE FEED AND DELIVERY ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS 1 J ||l r|. M 4 Yv WIL E @I W R mM m, NA ma,

J N\ xA/.5H fau. r K T m |m@ u- Jo ,y v L B i nl v. i! l L Illu/ 3Sheets-She'c` 2 rlflhd H um N R3 @T L. M. CAMPBELL l Filed Jan. ze, 1925A TTORNEY Dec, s, 1925.

ENVELOPE FEED AND DELIVERY ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Dec. 8, 1925- L.M. CAMPBELL ENvELoPE FEED AND DELIVERY Agn-cmu? Fon TYPEwRITERs FiledJamas. 192s' :s Smets-sheet ls INVEN T 0R Lum/J N. CAMPBELL PatentedDec. 8, 1925.

UNITED:Y STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUCIUS IVI.v CAMPBELL, OF VST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

Application led January 26, 1925. "Serial No. 4,733.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LUGIUS M. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Envelope Feed and DeliveryAttachments for Typewriters, of which the following is a. specication.

My invention relates to an envelope feed and deliveryV attachment fortypewriters, and, it is a distinct and practical improvement to overcomecertain practical objections to, and defects in the present types ofattachments for typewriters.

The object of my invention is to provide an attachment for typewriterswhich will elevate a supply stack of envelopes in a receptacle apredetermined distance and feed or deliver one envelope at a time fromthe top of the staclr'of envelopes to and between conveyor belts' fordelivery to the platen roll of a typewriter by the manual turning of theplaten roll one half revolution inthe usual manner, which turningmovement of the platen positions the next 'envelope to be addressed onthe platen, and during the same manual operation of the platen, theplaten discharges the addressed envelope on the platen to and betweenthe two continuously driven conveyor belts for delivery to an addressedenvelope receiving receptacle.

An object of my invention is to provide means to raise a stack ofenvelopes to be addressed a predetermined distance and advance the. topenvelope thereof toward the platen of a typewriter a predetermineddistance each time an addressed envelope is discharged from the platen.y

A further object `of my invention is to provide a platen actuatedmechanism to raise a stack of envelopes in a supply receptacle a.predetermined distance to each half revolution of the platen.

A further obj ect of the invention is to provide a plurality of feedconveyor 'belts to be actuated or driven a predetermined distancethrough the manual rotation of theplaten'to feed an envelope betweenbelts movable toward the platen and to discharge the preceding oraddressed envelope from the platen.

A further object of the invention is to A further object of theinvention is to` provide means for raising the forward ends of theaddressed envelope conveyor belts out of cooperative relation with theplaten when the typewriter is used for purposes other than theaddressing of envelopes to obviate the necessity of having topdetach theattachment from' the typewriter when it is desired to write letters, orthe like. p

Affurther object of the invention is'the yprovision of an envelopefeedand delivery attachment for typewriters, which will possessadvantages-in points of simplicity, efficiency, and, at the same timeprove itself comparatively inexpensive in manufacture.

Vith the above Vand other objects in view,

the inventionk consists inthe vnovel features v of construction,arrangementvand combina-k tion of vparts hereinafter more fully described and finally pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification, wherein like characters of reference denote similar partsthroughout the several views:

Fig. l, is a right side elevation of a device as attached to atypewriter and embodying they features of my invention. Y

Fig. 2, is a detail in sectional elevation taken on line 2 2 of Fig. l,showing the platen ,gear disengaged from an idler gear which impartsmovements to gears for driving the feed conveyor belts.v

Fig. 3, is a left side elevation of the device as attached to atypewriter and embodying the features of my invention.

Fig. 4, is a top plan view of the attachment with portions thereofbroken away and others 'in sectional elevation.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral A vrepresents atypewriterwhich is shown in dotted lines. is provided with the usualplaten, or roll l The Y typewriter l and the platen actuating lever 2,which are shown in full lines.

In carrying out the aim of my present invention, which is in the form ofa device to be readily attached. to and: detached from a typewriter, lemploy a suitable supporting frame 3, adapted to be positioned to therear of a typewriter and suitably connected thereto by means of suitableconnecting straps 4,v or their equivalent. rlhe fra-me work 3 is soconstructed as to provide an envelope supply or feeder receptacle 5-openat its top, closed at its bottom with a verticallyl movable floor; 16upon which is positioned a stack of envelopes 7 to be addressed,whichenvelopes have their aps facing up and their sealing end at the front,as is manifest. The frame is also provided with an addressed envelopereceiving rcceptacle 8 which is positionedto the rear of receptacle 5. n

The means for elevating the licor 6 will now be described.

The mechanism, lY have shown for elevat-V ing the iioor 6, consists of asuitable rack gear 9 which is iixe'd to the lower face of the movableenvelope supporting floor 6 and directed downwardly therefrom, and is ofsuch length as to elevate the floor 6 to its uppermost position in thereceptacle, which position is at the topfofreceptacle 5. The teeth ofthe rack` gear 9 meshl with a pinion gear 10 fixed to the cross shaft 11which is rotatably. supportedL at its ends by the supporting frame .3. Asuitable ratchet wheel 12 is fixed to one end of the right hand end ofthe crossshaft 11 andthe teeth thereof are adapted to be engagedA bymeans `of a dog,.or pawl 13'which is pivotally connected, as at. 14, atits forward end tothe lower end ofthe vertically disposed short arm 15of the horizontally disposed lever arm 16, which is fulcrumed at itsrear Aend"to the.

frame 3, as atA 17'.V A vertically disposed plunger rod 18'is -pivotallyconnectedV atv its lower end, as at 19.y to the forward. end of thelever arm 16 and is guided near its upper end'by means of aY suitablebearing sleeve 20 carried at the forward end of one of the frame arms21, of which there are twoin opposed relation, as shown in Figs. 1 and3. The-upper end vof the plunger. rod 18'is provided with a suitablehead 22and a coiled spring 23 encircles the plunger. rod 18 betweenitshead 22 and the bearing-sleeve 20. The right hand end of the platenladjacent the plunger rod head 22 is provided witha suitable y gear 24which is suitably fixed thereto and provided with a pairQofoppositelydisposed and suitably spaced outwardly directed plunger actuating pins.designated 25 and 26. The foregoing mechanism', it willbeobservedelevates the floor of the envelope `supply receptacle the'distance of the thickness ofone envelope to each half turn of theplaten or roll l due to either pin 25 or 26 depressing the plunger rod18 during rotation of the platen 1 which in turn rocks the lever arm 16causing the Idog or pawl 13l to be movedy rearwardly to direct its forceagainst the teeth of the ratchet wheel 12 which revolves the shaft 14and pinion gear 1.0 for elevating the rack gear 9 and the envelopeSupporting floor6 on receptacle 5.

The mechanism for conveying ,the en'- velop-es, one at a time, from thesupply stack 7 to the platen 1 to be there addressed kby the operatorAof the typewriter, will now be described.

rlhe above referred to mechanism, consists ofa pair of suitably spacedfront and rear feed rollers designated 27 and 28.l These rollers arerotatably supported'at their ends, as at 29 and 30, respectively, vbythe arms-21 of the frame 3. rllhe rear roller-28 is preferablypositioned a little higher than the forward rollerl and a pluralityofsuitably spacedconveyor belts 30 ride over these rollers v27 and 28,as will be apparent from Figs. 1', 2 andf 4. Positioned directly abovethe feed rollers 27 and 28 are a pair of'feed rollers 31 and 322 rlfheserollers are rotatably supported at their ends, as at 33 and 34,respectively, by means yof the opposed side arms 35 which are positionedabove the arms 21;. A plurality of suitably spaced conveyor belts 36ride over the feed rollers 31 and l32 and also over a vacuum feed roller37 positionedto the vrear ofv feed roller 3,2 and over'the forward end'yof the envelope stack 7, as clearly shown in Figs. 1- and 2.' The belts36 are in opposed relationV to belts30.

Asshown in Fig; 4, the vacuum feedfroller 37 is rotatably mounted upona'V metallic vacuum tube 33 reduced at its ends'and suit-ably fixed' tothe side arms 35V of the frame 4l The vacuum tube 38v is providedv atits ,lower sidewith a plurality ofsuitably spaced'openings'39 andthevacuum roller 37 is provided witha pair of opposed lsuction feet V40 toeach tube opening 39, which feet are each provided with a pluralityofsuction openings 41 adaptedto register with their respectivetubeopenings 39 when the vacuum roller 37 is revolvedl by means ofthe belts36 thereby causing the top envelope ofthe stack 7 to be bodily liftedfrom the stack and carried forward by the suction feet 40of the roller37 and guided to enter between the` conveyor belts to be therebyconveyedto the platen 2 for addressing. Ther vacuum tube 38 isconnected, by means of an air tube 42 with a suitably driven vacuum pump43. The belts 30' and 36'are driven' by means of the rollers 27 and 31which, in turn, are rotated by means of the meshing gears 44 and 45' andwhich gear 44 is driven'by means of an idler gear 46 rotatablysupportedas at 47 by one of the arms 35 and which meshes with the platengear 24 which `rotates it when the platen gear is to its extreme righthand position and it itself is rotated by manually turning the platen inthe usual manner.

From the foregoing statement, it is evident that the feed mechanismdescribed, lifts the top envelope from the supply stack 7 as the stackis elevated and carries this envelope forward to the mouth of the feedconveyor belts 30 and 36, from which point the conveyor belts deliverthe envelope between them to the platen 1 where it is to be addressed intimed relation with the discharge or delivery of the addressed envelopefrom the platen 1, which movement of the envelope is only upon themanual rotation of the platen 1' by the operator of the typewriter.

The mechanism for conveying the addressed envelopes, as discharged, fromthe platen 1 vwill now be described.

The addressed envelope conveying mechanism consists of a pair ofsuitably spaced rollers designated 48 and 49 which are rotatablysupported at their ends as at 50 and 51, respectively, by the opposedarms 52, which arms are pivotally connected at their downwardly directedextension ends 53 with the frame 3 by means of suitable bolts 54provided with the winged nuts 55. A plurality of suitably spacedconveyor belts 56 ride over the rollers 48 and 49, as clearly shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 4. These conveyor belts 56 are disposed at a suitableincline with the forward end thereof adjacent the top of the platen 1.Positioned directly above the conveyor belts 56 and extending-over theforward and rearward ends `of the belts are a plurality of conveyorbelts ,57 riding over spaced rollers designated 58 and 59, which arerotatably supported at their ends as at 60 and 61 by means of a pair ofside supporting arms 62, The rear ends of the arms 62 are hingedlyconnected to the arms 63 of the frame 3. The conveyor belts 57 arelooser than the conveyor belts 56 soas to permit the upper frontdelivery roller 58 to over ride the lower front delivery roller 48 andbe positioned adjacent the delivery end of the platen 1, as

Vclearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

The lower supporting arms 52 are sup ported from extreme downwardarcuate movement by means of the legs 64 resting upon the side framearms 35. The pivotally supported roller supporting arms 52 and 62 areconnected by means of the pin 65 carried by arms 52 and receivable inthe slots 66 of arms 62, thus permitting both of the pivotally supportedarms 52 and 62-to be raised simultaneously and without being separated.When it is desired to use the typewriter for any other purpose'otherthan addressing envelopes, the pivotally support- Ved arms 52 and 62 canbe raised to the position shown in dotted`lines in VFig. 3, and lockedthere by the bolts 54 and winged nuts 55. p

The means for driving' the conveyorbelts 56, consists of a bevel, ormiter gear 67 fixed to the conveyor roller 49 -which meshes' with abevel or miter gear 68 fixed to the upperV end of a vertically disposeddrive shaft 69 mounted in the bearings 70 and 71. .The lower end of thedriveshaft 69 is provided with a worm 72 meshing with a worm gear 73fixed to the vacuum pump shaft 74 for continuously driving the-roller 49which in turn drives the lower'beltand which lower belt in turn drivesthe upper conveyor belts 57 by its overhanging contact with the frontend of the lower conveyorgbelt 56.

In discharging an addressed envelope from the platen, it willbe'understoodthat the envelope is directed'upwardlyto enter between theconveyor belts 56 and '57 for delivery to the receivingreceptacle 8. i

It is evident from the foregoing description that I provide anattachment for typewriters for rapidly'feeding envelopes toposition onthe platen l where they are ad"- dressed by the operator in the usualmanner and for delivering the discharged addressed envelopes to avreceiving receptacle 8 "wherethey are'deposited one above the other in astack to the rear 'ofthe supplyreceptacle 5. It is also evident that thefeeding mechanism is manually controlled whereas the delivery mechanismyfor rvthe addressed envelopes is continuously driven" by means ofsuitable motive power', such yfor instance, asian electric motor 75.' y

The many advantages ofthe herein described invention will readilysuggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which it appertains. f

I do not wishto be `understood as having limited myself to the exactdetails of construction shown and described, but desire to have itunderstood that the `invention I have shown in the drawings is merelyillustrative, 'as it is manifest that various minor changes may be madein, thc exact construction and particular arrangement of parts 4withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, 'hence Ireserve the right tomake any such changes, or modifications, as may fairly fall within thescope of the appended claims when fairly construed. i

What I claim is:

l. In a device for feeding envelopes to a typewriter and delivering themtherefrom, the combination with the platen of the typewriter, of a-framestructure lembodying a supply receptacle and a receivingreceptacle, means actuated by manually rotating the platen for elevatinga stack of unaddressed envelopes a predetermined distance, means fforadvancing-the top'envelope' of theV stack as it isdischargedfrom'theplaten and conveying itv to a receivingy receptacle.,

2, In an attachment structure for typewriters,.the combination with thetypewriter platen, a frame structureembodying a supply. receptacleadapted'to be filled with. a`

stackfof unaddressed envelopes and aa'receivingreceptacle for addressedenvelopes, an envelope conveyor, manually controlled means foradvancingfone envelope, ata time in the supply receptacle to said conveyor, atrain of gears connecting theconveyor with4 the platen for'advancing theenvelope from the supply stachy to the platen; a conveyor for deliveringthe discharged .addressed. envelopes from the platenv to thefreceivingconveyor and meansfor continuously driving said? latter conveyor.

8. In an attachment lstructure for type-- Writers, the combinationvywith the -typewriter platen, a .frame structure embodying a/su-pply4receptacle,adapted to :be fille'd witha stack of nnaddressed envelopesand a receiving receptaclefor addressed envelopes, of a plurality ofVfeed rollers, belts riding over said rollers, suction feet carried byone of said rollers, means for .rotating saidfeedrrollers and drivingsaid belts in timed relation with the rotation of the platen for feedinganenvelope to and between-,said beltsto position on the platen andadvancing an envelope from the supply stack to Vthevmouth oli-'the said,feed rollers and belts, a continuously drivenl conveyor belt forcarryingI the discharged addressed envelopes from the platen to, a:receiving; ref ceptacle. v 4. In yan attachment structures-for typefWriters, the-combination with the typewriter platen, a frame structureembodying; a supply receptacle adapted, to beiilled with a stack ofunaddressed' envelopes and a receivingl receptacle for addressedenvelopes, a gear fixed to one endy of the plateina springsupportedplunger rod, a pivotally supported lever arm pivotall-yconnected with the lower'endof said plunger rod, apush pawl pivotallyconnected to oneend ofsaid lever arm, a ratchet wheel, a shaftforsupporting said ratchet wheel, a pinion fixed' toy said shaft, a rackgear in mesh .withsaid pinion, a palet fixed upon the upper end of therack gear for supporting a staclcoi unaddressed envelopes, a pair'ofopposed pins directed outwardly from said grantor actuating the .plungerrod to raisev the envelope' stack a predetermined distance,upper andlower feed conveyors, means for ldriving said con.- veyors Vin timedrelation with` therotation-:o the platen for :feeding one envelope at; atimeto-the platen, a suction'lroller forv raisingxone yenvelope at atime from thesupply stack andadvancingitt-o the feedrconveyors,

gear fixed to one end ot the platen, a spring Y supported plunger.` rod,a pivotally sup-- ported lever arm pivotally connectede with thel lowerend of` said plunger rod, a pushy paivl pivotally connected to-oneend ofsaid lever arm, a ratchet wheel, ai shaft for-sup.- porting-said;ratchet wheel, aA pinion fixed to said shaft, a rackgearinmesh,witlrsaid pinion, a palet; liXed uponthe upper end of' therack gear fors-upporting av stackzof nnaddressed envelopes, a pair ofAopposed pins directed outwardly from said gear, for actuatingtheplungerl rod to raise the envelope stack a predetermined distance,:upper and lower feed conveyors, means for driving said conveyors intimed relation with the` rotation of the platen for feedingy oneenvelopev at a; time tothe platen, aA suction roller 'for raising oneenvelope at al time from the; supply stack and advancing it. to the feedconveyors, means rotating saidroller .in time-d relation withtherotationf of the platemupper andV lower delivery conveyors, meansfor. `continuonsly driving said con.- veyors :tor delivering addressedenvelopes discharged from the platen to receiving receptacleto the rearof theI supplydstaclr of unaddressed; envelopes, means Jfor.A `pivotallysupporting the Aupper and lower delivery conveyors at their rear ends,means for moving bothl of' said conveyors inv an arcuate pathin`connected relation with each other and means for locking the lowerVdelivery conveyorin its upper and lower adjusted. positions.

6. In an attaclnnent structnre for type.- writers, the combinationwitlrthe typewriter platen, a frame structure embodying a supplyreceptacle adapted to be filled with a stack of unaddressedenvelopesand, al receiving receptacle for receiving addressed envelopes, manuallyactuatedmeans for feed,- ing one-,envelope at a time from lastack ofenvelopesin thesupply receptacle to a vposition at the platen andcontinuously driven means fordelivering addressed envelopes dischargedfrom the' platen to a receiving receptacle.l f

lli)

platen, a frame structure embodying a supyply receptacle adapted to belled withv a Astack of unaddressed envelopes and a re ceiving receptaclefor addressed envelopes, manually actuated means for elevating the stackof unaddressed envelopes the distance of the thickness of a singleenvelope, a suction feed roller disposed above the stack of unaddressedenvelopes, feed rollers in advance of said suction roller, conveyorIbelts connecting said feed rollers in pairs, conveyor belts connectingone of .said feed rollers with the suction roller, a train of gearsconnecting a pair of said feed rollers with the platen and a pair ofarcuately movable oonveyors for receiving and delivering addressedenvelopes discharged from the platen to a receiving receptacle.

8. In an attachment structure for typewriters, the combination with thetypewriter platen, a frame structure embodying a supply receptacleadapted to be filled with a stack of unaddressed envelopes and areceiving receptaclefor addressed envelopes, conveyors for advancingunaddressed yenvelopes to position at the platen, a suction pump, avacuum tube having openings therein, a tube connection between the pumpand tube, a roller having peripheral suctionfingers provided withopenings adapted for timed register with the openings of the vacuum tubefor lifting one envelope at a time from the supply stack and advancingthe same to said conveyors each time the platen is rotated one half of arevolution and continuously driven conveyors for receiving addressedenvelopes discharged from the1 platen for delivery to a receivingreceptac e.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name to thespecification.

LUCIUS M. CAMPBELL.

